A molecular phylogenetic analysis of a plant specimen collected in Vanuatu (southwest Pacific) that was initially identified as Alphitonia (Rhamnaceae) because of its fruit morphology was found through molecular phylogenetic analysis to in fact belong to Carpodetus (Rousseaceae), a genus previously reported only from New Zealand, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The plant appears relatively distinct genetically from both species currently accepted in this genus, C. serratus and C. arboreus. However we cannot exclude the possibility that it belongs to one of the taxa currently placed in the synonymy of the polymorphic C. arboreus. Beyond the range extension of the genus, this observation also stresses the need for a revision of Carpodetus, particularly in New Guinea.